Birthday Present
by Tichuba
Summary: It's Ahiru's birthday, and Fakir finds himself in a dilemma as he searches frantically for the perfect present.


**Hey, Tichuba here.** _We wrote a story a loong time ago, but we never uploaded it onto fanfiction...so we're doing it now!_ **Please tell us what you think about this first effort at co-op writing.** =]

_Chunks are written by me,_** and other chunks are written by me. **_However, we won't be italicizing and bolding the parts that we individually wrote, because_** that's just killer to read.** _And also, the dotted lines don't show where we passed the pen to each other. _**It just shows where the scene cuts off to another scene. **_We didn't really edit each others' parts--just our own._** Just so you know.**

**_WARNING!!-FAKIR+AHIRU AHEAD_**

Summary: _It's Ahiru's birthday._ **Everyone's invited.** _Including Fakir._ **What else is there to say without giving the story away?** _I dunno...heyy, you rhymed!!_ **...**

Disclaimer: **We don't own anything.** _Well, except for the idea of this story, we're guessing._

**_~Tichuba_**

* * *

Mute and Rue were strolling in one of the many courtyards of the campus, quietly chatting as they slowly walked along the shaded path.

Suddenly, two small pigeons with mottled grey feathers landed on a nearby fountain with pink-and-white papers in their beaks. They cocked their small heads at the sight of Rue and Mute, then dropped the pieces of paper onto the dry stone of the fountain and flew off.

"Oh? What's this?" Rue asked Mutequietly. He shrugged, and they both walked over to the fountain. Mute picked up one of the papers and read it out loud.

"Dear Rue: You are invited to Ahiru's 13th birthday party, on the 18th of April at 6:00 p.m. The party will be held in the common room of the girls' dorm. Please join us for dinner and dancing, and cake! Hope you can come!"

Mute looked at Rue picking up the other one after he had finished reading.

"This one is addressed to you," She handed the small paper to him and he gave her hers.

---

Meanwhile, Fakir stepped out of the ballet studio into the sunlight, a towel draped casually around his neck. Almost immediately, a sparrow lighted on the ground before him, dropped a note similar to Rue's and Mute's, and flew away.

Sighing, Fakir bent down, picked up the note, and read it.

Stuffing the note into his pocket, he began to walk casually to his room. But his mind was whirring.

After the whole saving-Mute incident, he and Ahiru had unquestionably grown closer. It would be inappropriate to decline, so he would have to attend. Attending, however, also included giving Ahiru a birthday present.

But what could he possibly get her?

---

Fakir turned the small duck plushie over in his hands as he tried to picture Ahiru's reaction, if he were to get her that.

_"What?! IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE?!?! Well, IT'S NOT FUNNY."_

Fakir shuddered as he put the plushie back on the shelf. 'No,' he thought. 'She might take that offensively...'

He left the toy shop and walked up and down the streets in search of a store that might carry an acceptable gift. While he walked, he passed a number of florists. He thought of getting her a bouquet, but quickly dismissed the idea. 'Either she would find it too romantic, or it would be too impersonal.'

After scouring the rest of the village for an appropriate present, the approaching night found a frustrated Fakir wandering the streets. His feet took him to the library, his sanctuary. The store next to the library sold special paper and pens, owned by a professional book-binder.

Fakir stopped to gaze at the elegant sheets of creamy paper displayed in the windows, and the fancy pens and the smooth, thick ink packaged in squat black pots.

With a start, Fakir got an idea.

He pushed the door open, walked up to the store owner, and spoke with the owner briefly. Then, he walked over to the shelves and counters, choosing a thick pack of simple, cream-colored paper, a pot of thick black ink, and a special pen that curved elegantly at the sharpened, angled tip. After paying the owner, he quickly walked to the library. Without greeting anyone, he sat down, unpacked his purchases, and began to write furiously.

Drosselmeyer watched from his gear-filled universe, sitting in his ridiculous rocking chair with his ridiculous glasses and writing cap on.

"Yes, I see," He murmured, nodding as he watched Fakir's hand form words on the paper.

Sighing, Drosselmeyer got up from his chair and jumped onto a nearby swinging pendulum, pondering.

"Weelll...I suppose she does deserve this little bit of a favor after everything I put her through." Still nodding, Drosselmeyer jumped off the pendulum, deciding not to interfere with Fakir's mission, and turned, cackling, to some other story whose characters he was manipulating mercilessly.

---

"Mute! Rue! Welcome, please come in! You're just in time for the dancing."

The couple walked into the not-so-crowded common room, where loud, Swedish-sounding music was playing. A couple of girls and guys were dancing together on the dance floor. Rue recognised them all from her and Ahiru's ballet class. Of course, Pique and Lillie were there as well, sorting the presents into one big pile next to the dinner table.

"Um, where's Fakir?" Mute and Rue looked at each other after Ahiru's sudden question.

"Uh, he said he was going to be a little late. But don't worry, Ahiru. He's coming." Mute reassured her. She smiled and noticed the colorful boxes they were carrying.

"Ah! You two didn't have to bring presents! Aww...now I feel like I owe you guys something," Ahiru sighed, looking to the side, at no one in particular.

"Ahiru, after all you've done for us, how could we not get you anything? There's no way we could ever repay you fully," Rue said to Ahiru, smiling. Ahiru smiled back, when Pique and Lillie came over to set Rue's and Mute's presents on the crowded table.

"You two don't have to stand in the doorway the whole time, come dance!" Pique encouraged them to walk back onto the dance floor.

"Yeah! Hey, Rue, I know this is a party, but could you maybe...um...think about...helping me dance en pointe? You're so good, and I just can't get the hang of it..." Lillie asked shyly, looking down at her feet, when Pique elbowed her in the side.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Stop bothering our guests!"

"It was just an innocent question!"

"Yeah, that you could ask her to do at school!"

"You're no fun!"

"Er...shall we go dance?" Rue suggested to Mute and Ahiru, who quickly agreed and left the two girls to argue.

---

"It's already been an hour..." Ahiry sat at one of the small dinner tables she, Lillie, and Pique had set up. She looked up at the large gear-shaped clock that decorated the common room. The hour hand was resting on the ornate seven, and the minute hand at thirty minutes. She looked back at the dance floor and watched all the happy couples dancing. Mute was dancing with Pique while Rue was helping Lillie improve her form.

"I wonder when he'll get here..." She found her thoughts always returning to that person when she watched the couples dance.

"Um, Ahiru..."

Ahiru sighed, watching her guests.

"Ahiru!"

'He's probably not even coming...'

"AHIRU! The door! There's another quest!" Pique had appeared behind her without notice and smacked her upside the head.

"What!? Why didn't you answer it?!" Ahiru yelled as she rubbed the back of her head. "Ow..."

"'Cause I thought you might wanna answer it," Pique replied smugly, with her hands at her hips, nodding her head towards the door.

"Ok, ok. I'll get it." Ahiru walked over to the door and tried to put on her best smile to welcome whoever it was that waited outside.

"Hello! Welcome-"

"Um...Hello, Ahiru."

"Fakir!" Ahiru panicked and started to flail about, straightening her dress and hair, hoping he wouldn't comment on her being so...not like Mute. Or Rue. Or anyone graceful.

"Uh, um, please, come in!" She opened the door wider and gestured inside.

"I'm sorry I'm so late. Oh, were you about to open presents?" He looked over her shoulder to see Lillie waving them over to the big pile of presents. All of her guests were sitting in a big circle, waiting for her to get over there.

"Ah! I, uh, I guess so!" She quickly fled to the circle hiding her face from the boy in the doorway. He sighed and followed suit, only in a much more calm fashion.

---

"Oh, Mute, it's beautiful! Thank you so much!" Ahiru held up a silver pendant with a metallic swan hanging on it. It had a small sapphire in the center, that gleamed as much as Ahiru's eyes did when she gazed at it.

"I'm glad you like it. Rue helped me pick it out," Mute smiled as Ahiru gently placed the necklace back into the small box where it came from.

"Ok, so who's next...oh, Rue! I'll open yours next!" Ahiru exclaimed as she pulled a bag from the pile of wrapping paper. She slowly pulled the layer of tissue paper out of the bag, and finally pulled out a pair of pink ballet shows with white laces.

"Ah! Toe shoes!"

"I figured since Mr. Cat never got around to giving you a pair, I'd get you a professional pair."

"Just as expected from Rue!" Pique joked while Ahiru thanked Rue and placed the slippers with the other opened presents.

"Now, from Lillie and Pique..." Ahiru rummaged among the wrapping paper and found an envelope. Curious, and trying to ignore the looks of anticipation on the faces of Lillie and Pique, Ahiru opened the envelope carefully and pulled out a colorful card. When Ahiru opened the card, she was greeted witha blaring version of the "Happy Birthday" song, and two pieces of dark-blue paper.

Ahiru bent down to retrieve the pieces of paper as they fluttered to the ground and read the fronts.

"Two tickets to the Cinderella ballet coming up next week? Thanks, but...why two?"

Lillie and Pique giggled and jabbed fingers at Fakir. Ahiru instantly grew red, stuffed the tickets and card back into the envelope, and dropped the envelope among the other opened presents like it was on fire. Fakir raised an eyebrow.

"Um..." Ahiru blinked, calmiung herself down. "Um, I think that's all..." She mumbled, searching through the trash to find any present that might have been forgotten.

"Ahiru, here's mine..." Fakir tapped her on the shoulder and handed her a shoddily-wrapped object.

"Oh, Fakir! How could I forget about you!" She exclaimed, not meeting his eyes as she took the present from his hands, which she noticed were coveredin ink stains.

"Your hands..."

"Oh, it's nothing, Just open the present," He said, putting his hands behind his back.

"Sure!" Ahiru untied the twine that bound the messy brown paper around the object, and the wrapping fell to the ground.

"A...book? But...where's the title?" Ahiru held up the medium-sized book, that had a blank gray cover.

"I wrote it," Fakir said matter-of-factly.

"Oh! Wow, Fakir, thank you so much! That makes it a lot better!" She started flipping through it, when Fakir grabbed her wrist with his ink-stained hand.

"Read it somewhere private," He said, quite seriously. Ahiru stared at his serious face, blushing lightly.

"S-Sure...Fakir," She said quietly. He closed his eyes and let go, remaining stoic for the rest of the party.

---

That night, after Pique and Lillie helped Ahiru clean up the trash, time found Ahiru curled up in a ball by the window out of which she had a spectacular view of the sky, wearing Mute's necklace and Rue's toe shoes.

Her gaze wandered aimlessly until it settled on Mute's window, and she sighed. After her huge effort and her countless sacrifices to return his heart and defeat the monster Raven, he didn't return her feelings. She didn't blame him, of course--that would have been selfish and unfair. However, she couldn't help but to feel a little bit disappointed.

One good thing had happened as a result, however; Ahiru had met the soft, gentle side of the cold-as-ice Fakir.

'Speaking of Fakir!' Ahiru thought, sitting up with renewed energy. The book he'd given her was at the foot of her bed, waiting patiently. She reached over to gently pick it up.

Meanwhile, Fakir walked into his room. Mute was asleep in his bed already. Sighing, Fakir hung up his cloak and sat at the table in the center of the room. He was bored, and probably should go to bed, but he was fidgety. He wanted to know what Ahiru thought of his book; wanted to see her face as she read it.

As he thought, his eyes wandered to her window. With a start, he realized she was sitting at her window, staring at the sky with her pure blue eyes, frowning slightly. Her gaze softened for a moment, and wandered to his window. She must have not seen him, because suddenly, she sat up. He walked to his window, observing her more closely as she reached to the edge of her bed and picked up something, before clutching it to her chest. With a start he realized that the object was the book he had written for her.

Ahiru walked to her window and sat down on the sill again, her back against the frame. She ran her hands over the binding of the book. It still smelled of fresh paper and wet ink, of thick glue and a new spin, hard and resistant. She pressed her nose against it momentarily, inhaling, and opened it.

The first page had two simple words on it, written in black ink by a fancy, flourishing pen.

"For Ahiru."

Ahiru blinked, blushing slightly,and turned the page, still unaware of Fakir's gaze.

As Ahiru began reading, she found herself reading her own story. Her eyes skimmed over the familiar tale of her discovering the Prince, her saving him and restoring his heart, her turning back into a duck while he flew off with his new-found beloved Rue.

Ahiru rubbed her finger against her temple, confused. Why did Fakir give her such a gift? Did he just want her to remember this whole expedition for the rest of her life? It wasn't as if she could forget, even if she wanted to, anyways.

Then, Ahiru noticed something strange. One more page followed the page where the story should have ended. Curious, Ahiru turned the page and read on.

"Unknown to anyone, however, Princess Tutu had a time limit for restoring all of the Prince's heart. On her thirteenth birthday, the pendant she wore that kept her human would no longer be able to control her transformations, and she would return to being a duck.

"But if she succeeded, and fulfilled her role in the story before her thirteenth birthday, the pendant--while still inside the Prince's bosom--would grant her a final transformation--a permanent one, and according to her preference.

"In the end, Princess Tutu did fulfill her role before her time limit. And so the pendant waited in the Prince's bosom, waited for its former master's birthday. When it arrived, the pendant was ready. But what would Princess Tutu choose? To be a human, or to be a duck?"

Ahiru's breathing quickened with every sentence, and when she read the lst sentence of the last paragraph, she stopped breathing temporarily.

Today was her thirteenth birthday, wasn't it?

Ahiru closed the book slowly, gently. Fakir had written a whole book to give her an opportunity to choose, and Ahiru was grateful. And if what Fakir had written was true, then the pendant was already waiting for her decision. But what would it be? A duck's life was easy and simple and carefree, and a human's life was full of complications and danger. But a human's life, it seemed to Ahiru, was overall more worthwhile to live than a duck's.

Ahiru chewed her lip nervously. She would definitely choose to be a human, but what if Fakir was wrong? What if his power to make his stories come true had dwindled after his role in Drosselmeyer's story was fulfilled?

What if she could never truly be human?

She closed her eyes tightly. She wanted to quack, to try and see if what Fakir had written was true. But she was scared; afraid that his power had indeed faded, and that now his words remained dead on the creamy paper.

Just then, a small pidgeon alighted on the window sill by her feet. it cocked its head at herm its bright black eyes gleaming. Still holding the book to her chest, Ahiru extended a hand, and the pidgeon hopped onto her finger without the slightest hint of hesitation. The two stared at each other, and before she knew it, Ahiru was pouring out her thoughts down onto the curious, but uncomprehending, pidgeon.

"Fakir wrote this book for me, you know? Hw probably skipped a whole day's worth of food and a whole night's worth of sleep to complete this book on time--all for me, all to give me a chance to make a decision after years of being bent and manipulated by some psycho tragedy-loving old man. But I'm afraid to take the chance and make the decision that Fakir worked to give me. Am I being selfish? Or stupid? Or both?"

Fakir, after seeing Ahiru start talking to the pidgeon, tried to eavesdrop, but he was too far away to hear. He quickly shrugged on his bloak and hurried out of the boys' dorm, stopping just beneath her window, in time to catch the last of her words. When she took a breath to continue her rant, he beat her, effectively silencing her with one word.

"Neither."

Ahiru jerked, and the pidgeon lept from her finger into the night sky. Forgetting herself, Ahiru let out a loud, clear "QUACK!" as she tottered over the window sill and out onto the street below.

As she fell, only one thing crossed her mind.

'Why aren't I transforming into a duck?'

She didn't realize that she had crumpled into a pair of arms instead of smashing into the sidewalk. She looked around frantically and saw a pair of black-cloaked arms, and then a black ponytail of hair, and then a pair of wry green eyes. Fakir.

"Are you ok?"

Blushing, Ahiru nodded. "Um, yes...thanks."

As he gently set Ahiru onto her feet, he made a casual note. "You didn't transform into a duck."

Ahiru nodded again. "Yeah...I know." The two stared at each other for a moment.

Finally, Ahiru ducked her head down, embarassed. "Thanks again, Fakir."

"For catching you? Oh no, I've gotten used to it."

Ahiru waved her arms. "No, not about that! I meant about...about..." She stopped waving her arms crazily when she realized that she was still clutching the book in her fingers.

"...About this," She finished, quietly holding out the book.

"Oh. That's...nothing. Don't worry about it. I ate all of my meals and slept on time."

"Ok. That's good." Ahiru smiled shyly, playing with the book's cover and rubbing the spine with her fingers. As she watched her fingers fidget, it hit her. She was human. Not all duck, or half human, half duck, or magically human. All human.

And it was all because of Fakir, the young man with unnaturally feminine black hair, amused green eyes, a sort of permanently slouched-over form, and a sarcastic mouth.

In a huff, Ahiru lunged forward and threw her arms around him, eyes shut.

"Thank you."

* * *

A/N: **Oh man, this story is from so long ago.** _I remember me trying to write it on the bumpy bus ride to the Smith Center. Fun_**. Ah yes. Good times, good times.**

_So anyway_**! Please tell us what you think**_. The review button is right smack in the middle bottom of the screen!_** So press it!! **

**_~Tichuba_**


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